Cross-Connect Blog

Celebrating 20 Years of Quality Products, Services and People at Chatsworth Products, Inc.

July 21, 2011

 Banner for 20thTwenty years ago today, 44 employees banded together to form a 100% employee-owned company called Chatsworth Products, Inc. (CPI). Today, CPI has grown to staff hundreds, extend our presence worldwide and enjoy over 1,000% sales growth since inception.

So how did CPI become one of the leading global manufacturers providing voice, data and security products and service solutions that optimize, store and secure technology equipment? When the Chatsworth Operation of the Dracon Division faced divestiture, 44 employees purchased the company, adopted an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), and made a commitment to being a company of the highest quality in every aspect of business: Quality Products, Quality Services and Quality People.

Thanks to this ESOP structure, all employees of CPI become beneficial owners. This motivates each and every CPI employee to think and act like an owner, creating a strong desire to attain our core purpose: delighting the customer.

And just how well did CPI adapt to employee ownership and the ESOP structure? Only two years after inception, the California Chapter of the ESOP Association recognized us as the ESOP Company of the Year - a prestigious honor we took home a second time in 2008.

Yet CPI's success isn't merely measured in accolades and anniversary celebrations, it's fostered in the trust, reliability and satisfaction of the customers, contractors and colleagues we serve each and every day.

In addition to our U.S. operations in California, North Carolina and Texas, CPI is now represented with dedicated office staff in Mexico City, Mexico, Buckinghamshire, England, Shanghai, China and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

As CPI prepares to enter its third decade as an ESOP company, employees reflect with a sense of gratitude and pride at the success and growth that has been experienced during our first two decades. CPI's pride of ownership and mutual trust and respect felt for one another is reflected in the company's motto: We're All in This Together.

And on June 24, 2011, we certainly were - with a special luncheon celebrated company-wide to recognize and reflect on all the achievements and successes of CPI over the past 20 years.

Later in the week, be sure to look for a special article from CPI that will give many of our employee owners a chance to share what the 20-year anniversary means to them. Stay tuned! Jeff Cihocki, eContent Specialist 

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